Macaroon Recipe

Macaroon Recipe

Ingredients

1kg Icing sugar

550g Ground almonds
550g Fresh egg white
150g Caster sugar

Method 

Pre-heat oven to 170ºc

Sieve the icing sugar and ground almond together. Whisk the egg whites and the sugar together. Fold the icing sugar and almonds into the egg whites until well mixed then pipe onto silicone paper.  Sprinkle with nibbed almonds and rest for 1 hour, bake till just coloured.

The macaroons can be sandwiched together with jam, ganache or a flavoured butter cream.

The recipe above is a pretty basic recipe, and you could always add colours with food colouring to your mix to give your macaroons a great colourful look. The colouring should not change the taste of the macaroon at all, and I would recommend adding the colour to your whipped egg white mix before you add it to the almonds. Make sure the egg whites have been whipped prior to you adding the colour

Places to buy macaroons

Ladurée has to be by far the shopping destination if you are as crazy about Macaroons as I am. Recently we took a trip to Paris and stopped in at Ladurée to buy some macaroons to bring home with us. The flavors, choices, and colours are all amazing. There’s licorice, chestnut, strawberry and mint. It is an experience in itself just being in Paris and buying these culinary delights. Nothing compares.

There are a few stores open now in London, and a lot more stores around the world. If you happen to pass one, stop, go inside, and let the experience run away with you

Chocolate Pot, fresh berries and Creme Anglaise pudding

Chocolate Pot Recipe

 

Anything that is made with chocolate catches my attention, this dessert in particular is something special. The rich chocolate, served with classic creme anglaise, and some fresh berries, makes for the perfect end to a great meal

Makes 6

Ingredients

167g Dark chocolate
267g Butter
3.5gYeast
40g Caster sugar
2 Whole eggs
53g Pasteurised egg yolk
33g Strong flour
Zest of 1 orange

Method

Pre-grease and line moulds with silicone paper, line the bases with a disc of soaked chocolate sponge cake.

Melt the chocolate and butter over a water bath and combine well.  DO NOT OVER HEAT.

Dissolve the yeast in a little water and mix it into the melted chocolate with the flour and orange zest. Whisk the whole eggs, yolks and sugar to a sabayon until it has doubled in volume then fold it into the chocolate mix. Fill each mould ¾ of the way full

Bake at 190ºc (full fan) for 9 minutes.

Serve this with some crème anglaise, and if you are a fan of either fresh cherries of seasonal berries, they go so well with this dessert. The mix of warm custard, rich chocolate and fresh berries makes for a balanced and super delicious dessert.

 

Bon Appétit

Candy Beetroot Salad with Feta, Pears, Cucumber and Mint

Beetroot, Pear and Feta Salad Recipe

Ingredients

2 small candy beetroots, washed and sliced very thinly on a mandolin

3 ripe pears, peeled cored and cut into matchsticks
1 lemon
1 small bunch of mint
1/4 cup salted cashew nuts
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup chick peas
1/2 cup of roughly minced feta
1/2 cucumber, peeled skinned & cut into matchsticks

Beetroot is not just that jarred, vinegary, crinkle cut chunks of purple vegetable that you mom tried to force you to eat as a child, but in fact a crunchy and juicy root vegetable. They can be oven roasted and pan fried in chunks, sliced thinly and eaten raw, shallow fried or baked and made into amazing crisps, or put into fresh juices.

Method:

Combine the beetroot, pears and cucumber together in a bowl. Dress them with a good squeeze of lemon juice and drizzle with olive oil as well as some salt & pepper for seasoning.

Arrange this on a plate then roughly crumble the feta and spread it over evenly, with the fresh mint contrasting the colour.

Sprinkle on some sesame seeds, chick peas and almonds.

Bon Appétit

Smoked Salmon and Celeriac Salad Recipe

Smoked Salmon and Celeriac Salad Recipe

I made this dish the other day for a corporate lunch function, and it was a huge success

This recipe will serve 2 people

Ingredients

160g Oak smoked salmon
50g Mascarpone cheese
80ml Double Cream
2 Sprigs of dill
Juice from half a fresh lemon
1/2 a large Celeriac
50ml fresh honey
Green Oil ( Olive oil mixed with dill and blitzed in a food processor)
Baby Green basil
Baby Purple Basil

Method

Peel or trim the skin off the celeriac, and then cut it into small cubes, roughly 2cm by 2cm. Place the cubes onto a lined baking tray, lightly drizzle with olive oil, and then drizzle the honey over the cubes. The honey doesn't have to completely cover the celeriac, it just has to be enough on each cube, so that when it roasts, each piece will have a honey flavour. Place the tray into an oven at 180 degrees C, and roast for 8minutes, or until the honey starts to caramelise.

In the mean time, make to large roses of salmon, and 4 small roses, equally sized and portioned. Place them in the fridge until you need them.

Take the mascarpone and double cream and place it into a mixing bowl. Chop the dill until it is really fine. Mix the dill in with the cream and cheese mix, and squeeze in the lemon juice. Mix it together until it is well incorporated, taste it, and adjust the seasoning if needed. The mix should be soft enough that you can swipe it across a plate, but firm enough to hold when you swipe it.

To Plate 

Place a large tablespoon of the cream and cheese mix on the left hand side, in the centre, of the plate. Using a clean teaspoon, place the spoon into the mix, and swipe it in any direction across the plate, dragging the mix to create the swipe.

Place 1 large salmon rose and 2 small roses on each plate, spacing them apart. Place the warm roasted celeriac on the plate, about 6-8 cubes per plate.

Garnish the dish with the purple and green basil, and dots of green oil

Bon Appétit

Tiramisu Recipe

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

500g Mascarpone Cheese
5 eggs separated
½ cup castor sugar
pinch Salt
Sponge biscuits, to line dishes
¼ cup strong espresso coffee
4 Tbsp Brandy or Rum
Cocoa Powder

Method:

Beat the mascarpone cheese until it soft. In a Separate bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar (reserving 1 tablespoon) until the mixture is pale, yellow and fluffy. Gradually beat in the softened Mascarpone cheese.

Beat the egg whites with the salt until they reach soft peak. Fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture. Line a dish, or even individual glasses with sponge biscuits. Add the reserved sugar to the coffee and stir in brandy

Sprinkle the coffee over biscuits, just to moisten them, you want to avoid making the biscuit to soggy.

Cover with half of the egg mixture, then another layer of biscuits with coffee sprinkled onto them, and then the rest of egg mixture.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Put the dessert into the fridge for one hour to set before serving.

If you want to add more flavour and colour to this dessert, you can do a layer of raspberries or even mixed berries between the cheese mixture and the biscuit mix. It looks great when you serve it in individual glasses.

To garnish you can use some more fresh colourful berries, as well as chocolate shavings. Again this served and garnished in individual glasses looks amazing

Bon Appétit

 

Tuna Nicoise Salad Recipe

Serves 2 people as a starter

Ingredients

50g pitted Kalamata Olives

4 cherry tomatoes, both red and yellow

10 Green Beans

4 new potatoes

4 quail eggs

1 side of fresh tuna

Dill

Olive oil

Baby basil or other micro cress to serve

Rock Salt

Juice of half a lemon

 

Method

 

Slice the new potatoes in half and steam them until they are cooked all the way through, but not so much that they become too soft, rinse them with cold water until they are completely cooled, drain and set aside.

 

Trim the beans. Blanch the green beans until al dente, they should still have their entire colour and be crunchy when they are bitten. Cut each bean in half. Set aside

 

Slice the tomatoes in half and set aside.

 

Take about half a bunch of fresh dill, and place it into a blender, pour in about 100ml of olive oil and blend, you should have a green oil that is easy to pour, like a dressing. If you need to, add more oil, or dill, whichever is needed to get the consistency you would like

 

Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil, and then place the quail eggs inside, boil for 1 minute 30 seconds, then remove the eggs and place them in water that has ice in it, you want to cool the eggs as quickly as possible. To make peeling them easier, add some white vinegar to the water that they are cooling in. Peel the eggs and then cut them in half, length ways.

 

Take the tune and season it with some rock salt, and then pour over a little of the dill oil you have prepared, this is just to give it some extra flavour and colour when you fry it

 

Heat up a griddle pan with a little oil, and when the pan is really hot, add the tuna. Fry the tuna until it has the marks of the pan on it, and then do the same for the other side, You want to keep the tuna a bit pink and rare in the middle, so do not overcook it

 

Now that you have all the components of the dish ready, it’s time to plate them up.

 

Place the green beans in the centre of the plate, then place the tomatoes, olives and egg halves and potatoes around the beans, as well as a few elements on top of the beans to give the dish a bit of ‘lift’. Then take the tuna, and break it with your fingers into chunks. Drizzle the dill oil around the plate and on the ingredients, but remember dill has a very strong flavour so do not be too generous.

 

Bon Appétit

Orange and Chocolate Tart Recipe

 

 

Ingredients

50g orange zest

600g dark chocolate
250g whole eggs
120g pasteurised egg yolk
120g sugar
100ml water
400g soft butter
100ml grand mariner

Method 

Pre heat the oven to 110 C full fan

Have a pre-baked and sealed tart shell.  Melt the chocolate over a water bath and gently mix in the softened butter. Blanch the zest in boiling water, re-fresh and strain. Add the alcohol and zest to the chocolate butter

Whisk the sugar into the eggs and yolks and whisk to a sabayon, the sugar and eggs must have doubled in volume. 

Carefully fold the two mixes together and pour into the tart shell and bake for 15 minutes until just set.  Cool and store the tart in the fridge.  Cut in 12 portions and serve at room temp.

Bon Appétit